The World in 2050

On Tuesday 9 May, A Level Economics and Level 3 Extended Diploma Business students were treated to an illuminating talk from the Executive Editor at The Economist, Daniel Franklin.

Students were able to see Dan's prediction on how the global population may look in the year 2050 and how this may impact on what kind of technology the world will be using. Dan also explored how the world's economic centre of gravity may shift from Europe to Asia by 2050. The end of talk concluded with five possible new categories of jobs that may be on offer in 2050 including, Bot Wranglers, Drone Technicians, Virtual Fashion Designers, Indoor Farmers and Synthetic Tissue Engineers.

A Level Economics teacher, Paul Morse and a select few students from his class were able to take part in a Q&A session after the talk had concluded. A Level Economic student Tim Alderson-Martin, said: "I found it an eye opening insight into the future, it really made me think about how humanity will cope with the rapidly changing world and gave me a chance to link theory to reality. It was very useful to myself and others, I feel lucky to have been given that opportunity and greatly appreciate it."

We thank Daniel Franklin for taking time out of his busy schedule to come in and talk to us and for the signed copies of his Megatech Technology in 2050 and Megachange The World in 2050 books which, will be available to borrow from The Henley College's Library.